Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 51

Laquerta’s hair is damp in the morning.

 

That means he’s starving again, and he’s crossing the great lake barefoot.

 

Eileen sighed to herself, her eyes as wet as his hair. There was a stoic, salty side to the man she’d thought was a wild beast.

 

“The children’s house is the real problem,” she said, “and even though he’s been very firm with them about not coming out when Laquerta’s not around, it’s hard for the children to stay indoors in that environment.”

 

While Laquerta’s meticulous care has kept them dry, it’s hard to guarantee that the lack of sunlight won’t cause other problems.

 

She’s asked them to investigate Baroness Port, and they’re going to need more insurance.

 

Cordelia flicked her pen and glanced over at Eileen, who was still trying to figure out where to put the children. She couldn’t see what was so deeply troubling the little head.

 

“I’ll bet Lucian’s dagger they’ll run away this week.”

 

Eileen’s panic mode was about to explode.

 

It was the conclusion Cordelia had come to after countless experiences. Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment, then turned her attention to the board.

 

If Eileen moved, she would follow.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“So have you all come up with a killer move?”

 

Albert, dressed to the nines again today, said cheerfully. The deep red lipstick on his lips looked so good on him that Eileen gave him a small inward admiration.

 

“It doesn’t look great.”

 

“Miller, technique is confidence!”

 

Miller glared at him, fists clenched. The professor’s nervousness made him look like he was about to lose his cool.

 

“First years are new, right? I’m going to check your work one by one, so just come when I call you.”

 

With that, Albert grabbed Miller by the neck and stormed out of the annex, disappearing into the woods.

 

“Uh, this isn’t in the classroom, is it?”

 

Eileen asked curiously, and Emma, who was nonchalantly reading a novel, replied. “Uh, yeah. Mr. Wright tutors most of his classes. I don’t know why, but we’re going backwards from third grade, so you should be able to relax.”

 

Eileen nodded and sat down with Cordelia on one side of the room.

 

“So, Cordelia, what do you have for us?”

 

“Elemental Swordsmanship. I figured since I’m going to be a slayer, I can’t call it my ultimate skill without it.”

 

Cordelia lightly stroked the wooden training sword at her waist. Eileen smiled at the confident stance, the pride in her skill evident.

 

“Did you prepare well, Eileen?”

 

“Me? I don’t think I’m cut out for combat after all, so I went with the plant side.”

 

“You look good. You should show me next time.”

 

Eileen replied with a wordless nod. It was a shame that she couldn’t see the other people’s special abilities, but it made her less nervous that the professor was the only one who could see.

 

“Emma, you’re next.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Miller walked into the classroom and pointed to Emma, who put down her book and stood up to leave.

 

Soon after, a small explosion rattled the glass windows.

 

“Chew?”

 

Star, who had been rolling around on the floor with Jacob’s ghost, returned to Eileen’s lap.

 

“Emma’s on fire again this year.”

 

“I think the fire elemental is the best offense.”

 

Jacob and Miller continued the conversation, playing chess without much excitement. Unlike them, Cordelia’s eyes flashed with amusement.

 

“Hmmm, so much for fire.”

 

“In moderation? In moderation?”

 

Eileen shook Cordelia’s forearm with an uncomfortable look. Cordelia was very belligerent when it came to this kind of armed competition, perhaps because she and Lucian had been storm dueling since childhood.

 

“And it’s my first time against an elemental, too.”

 

Cordelia’s turn came, and Eileen, who had been looking outside with anxious eyes, was soon slapped across the forehead by a huge column of water in the middle of the forest.

 

The window rattled and several books in a drawer fell to the floor. In its wake, a brief rain fell into the dry sky.

 

“I knew it.”

 

Eileen, a somewhat liberated stranger, chuckled. The other students stared out the window in bewilderment.

 

“A victim, but a hero.”

 

It was a specialty no one else could match.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Excellent.”

 

Albert whistled softly, covering the corner of his mouth with the clip file in his hand.

 

“Overwhelming.”

 

She sheathed her wooden sword and channeled the watery energy, creating a storm and crushing the surroundings. Albert nodded, realizing that Gaudium’s tinnitus of two wings was no exaggeration.

 

“Awesome! Cordelia, good work, and feedback will be given in writing in the next class. Go back and tell Eileen to come see me.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Cordelia led Lynn back to the classroom, looking pleased with herself. Albert, who had been watching them, shook his head.

 

“I should have tested you individually, after all.”

 

The strength of elementalism was actually a matter of innate ability.

 

Even though there was nothing in the world that couldn’t be accomplished with hard work, those who contracted with the highest level spirits and those who contracted with the lowest level spirits had vastly different starting points.

 

But he was a teacher who had to teach all his pupils equally, no matter how different their starting points.

 

“Miller has improved, and Jacob has succeeded in channeling his power into one place.”

 

Albert did not want the younger pupils to be broken by the overwhelming difference.

 

He never wanted to see them fall prey to the selfishness of the adults, constantly comparing themselves to others and hating their own spirits.

 

The infinity of the future and the myriad kinds of happiness that lay ahead were the privilege of dreamers, even if they were born different.

 

“Sir.”

 

He turned, his darkened eyes fixed on the rift Cordelia had created, his smile returning at the sound of Eileen’s voice.

 

“Finally, the last of the order, shall I give you a moment?”

 

“No. I’ll do it right away!”

 

He sharpened his horns.

 

Albert nodded and opened a box as Eileen stood before him, looking ready to go.

 

“Destroy this bull’s-eye. How you do it is up to you. But you’ll have to use your special skill.”

 

The bull’s-eye, drawn on a black slab, sat in the middle of the clearing. Eileen’s brow furrowed at the oddly grim and unpleasant sight.

 

<Quiet.>

 

Star pouted his lips in disgust.

 

“Just do it when you’re ready.”

 

Albert took a step back, and Eileen called to Starr.

 

“Star, I know you don’t want to do this, so let’s just get it over with.”

 

Eileen reached for the bullseye. It was in a forest with lots of trees, so she figured she could use the roots to pinch the target and break it.

 

She was about to inflate the roots of an elm tree overhead.

 

*Kwazik*

 

“Huh?!”

 

One of the roots of the old tree grew and pierced the bullseye completely. The strangely unpleasant bull’s-eye was completely split in two.

 

The tree, with its unnatural thickness and strength, was the same tree that had sunk the greenhouse and never emerged.

 

“Why suddenly?”

 

Panicked, Eileen tried to use the same ability again, but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“Sir…”

 

Eileen turned to Albert for advice. Albert was staring at the shattered bull’s-eye with an unreadable expression on his face. He soon snapped out of his reverie and said to her, “Good!”

 

“Good! You did great! Would you like to go back to class first?”

 

“Yes, but I’m not very good at controlling my powers. I didn’t mean to call this.”

 

“That’s okay. We’re all like that. Isn’t that what you came to the Academy to learn?”

 

He patted her on the back as if this wasn’t the least bit unusual, and she relaxed, obediently making her way to the classroom, nervous about the unexpected outcome, but with a vague notion that it might be resolved with more lessons.

 

When Albert realized she was gone, he returned to his expressionless form and approached the bullseye. Inside the shattered bull’s-eye, he could see the black crystals turning to powder and disappearing.

 

“Master was right.”

 

Before Eileen’s enrollment, Albert had heard a strange comment while drinking with his old master, Orgen, who had returned to the academy after a long absence.

 

“The source of her life force and related powers may be a reaction to Magi.”

 

He didn’t quite understand what the old man meant when he asked him to look into it. It seemed absurd that even within the power of spirits, there could be a separate energy that was opposed to demons.

 

“Not some kind of divine power.”

 

Given Eileen’s origins and brown hair, he doubted that a child with no connection to the Hero’s Clan would have such power.

 

That was why crystals were placed in Eileen’s bull’s-eye.

 

He needed to see if the child’s power really responded to Magi, and the child proved it.

 

Albert was no earth elementalist, but he was certain that the relentless pursuit of the crystalline stone was no ordinary elementalism.

 

“Such power would be hard to come by in this harsh world.”

 

In these dire times, the kind of power Eileen possessed was the kind anyone would covet.

 

“I’ll have to write a letter to my master.”

 

Scratching the back of his head with his clip file, he headed for the lecture hall.